1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical jumper cable system for railway trains, and more particularly to an improved jumper cable system including a jumper cable adapted to be permanently attached to one end of each locomotive for connecting live electrical receptacles on adjacent ends of coupled locomotives in a consist.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is common practice to use a plurality of locomotives coupled together in a consist, with each locomotive assisting in pulling a train. The respective locomotives may be interconnected electrically to provide power therebetween and to enable a single crew in one locomotive to simultaneously actuate the controls of all locomotives in the consist. The electrical connections are conventionally provided by use of jumper cables which extend between and are releasably connected to permanently installed live receptacles on adjacent ends of the coupled locomotives to thereby provide power and/or control circuits between locomotives in the consist.
Jumper cable systems of the type described above, although capable of providing the necessary electrical connections between adjacent locomotives, have nevertheless not been entirely satisfactory due to the fact that the jumper cables themselves were a separate umit. As a result, cables were frequently lost or misplaced so that they were not always available when needed. Further, such separate jumper cables could be damaged in handling, storage, and the like and spare jumper cables were not always readily available.
One attempt to remedy the defect of the prior system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,136. According to this prior patent, a modified jumper cable having a conventional connector head on one end has its other end permanently connected in the wiring system of the locomotive within a junction box rigidly bolted to and forming an extension of the conventional live receptacle. A second live receptacle is also provided on the junction box, and a dummy receptacle is mounted on the side of the locomotive opposite the side having the live receptable. A slideable clip supports the midsection of the jumper cable on the locomotive when the cable is not in use. To use the device, the jumper cable connector head was disconnected from the dummy receptacle and plugged into the live receptacle on the end of the adjacent locomotive in a consist. Alternatively, a conventional jumper cable could be used to connect the live receptacle on the junction box to the live receptacle on the second locomotive, in which case the connector head of the jumper cable remained connected to the dummy receptacle and the central portion supported by the slideable clip. While a jumper cable was always available in this arrangement, the structure was expensive, required modification of existing structure, and was not entirely satisfactory in that the jumper cable remained live at all times whether or not in use.
It is, accordingly, the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved jumper cable system for electrically connecting adjacent locomotives of a consist employing jumper cables permanently mounted on one end of the locomotives and which may be employed between the conventional live receptacles on the adjacent ends of the locomotives and to have its ends connected to dummy receptacles when not in use.
Another object of the invention is to provide such an improved jumper cable system which always assures the presence of a jumper cable on one end of each locomotive and which will not interfere with the use of a conventional jumper cable.
Another object is to provide such an improved jumper cable system which does not require modification of the conventional live receptacles on locomotives.
Another object is to provide such a jumper cable which is supported between two locomotives when in use and is supported in such manner when not in use as to protect the cable against damage.
In the attainment of the foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention, an important feature resides in providing a jumper cable system including a jumper cable having means for permanent attachment at a point intermediate its ends to one end of a locomotive and adapted to have its connector heads releasably connected one to each of a pair of dummy receptacles mounted on the end portion of the locomotive one adjacent each side thereof whereby the permanently attached jumper cable is always safely stored and deenergized when not in use. A flexible support such as a length of chain or a flexible cable hanger has one end fixed on the midportion of the jumper cable and its other end portion permanently attached, as by welding, to the locomotive at a point between the two dummy receptacles which are spaced apart a distance sufficient to store the elongated jumper cable in two shallow loops extending generally across the end of the locomotive.